Georgia educators denounce Gov. Sonny Perdue's furlough proposal

Teresa Stepzinski

Thursday

Jul 23, 2009 at 12:01 AM

BRUNSWICK - Local and state educators Wednesday gave Gov. Sonny Perdue a big metaphoric F on his proposal to furlough teachers without pay for three days or cut the equivalent state funding to school districts.

Perdue on Tuesday called for every state worker - including teachers - to stay home three days in the next five months. His proposal includes a 3 percent cut in funding for public schools. Although state education funds previously have been cut, this would be the first time teachers would be furloughed.

The measure is necessary, Perdue said, to help remedy the state's $900 million deficit and declining tax collections.

Each day of furloughs saves taxpayers $135 million when teachers, University System employees and all other state workers are included. Teachers alone make up $33 million in savings, according to the governor's office.

Agencies won't close their doors completely during mass-furlough days. Instead, most are leaving staff scheduling to individual supervisors who can judge how to keep services to the public available.

Many agencies have already imposed worker furloughs as a way to save money in response to earlier budget trims. Perdue said that no worker should have to miss more than 12 paid days on the job to comply with his latest request for cost cutting.

"I know it hurts," Perdue said Tuesday. "A lot of people are hurt in this economy."

Perdue conceded, however, that he might not have the legal authority to make teachers take three days off without pay because they work under contract with individual school systems. Whether to implement the plan is up to each local schools superintendent.

State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox is scheduled to discuss the proposal and its implications with local superintendents during a conference call this morning.

"This would be devastating for us," Superintendent William "Al" Hunter of the McIntosh County school system said Wednesday.

Hunter said the 1,940-student district can't afford to furlough teachers, especially in the few remaining weeks before classes resume, which is when lesson planning is essential. Another cut in state funding would be equally bad, he said.

He estimated McIntosh would lose about $500,000 in state money under the governor's proposal.

"We've cut more than $900,000 out of our $15 million budget already, and I don't know what more we can stand," he said.

Glynn County school officials were taken off-guard by Perdue's announcement.

"It was a bombshell to us," said Jim Weidhaas, school system spokesman, noting they haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine the plan or its possible impact on the learning process.

"We're going to have to take some time to study it to determine what impact it will have on our students and staff beyond the immediate budget implications," he said.

Weidhaas also said they will be looking at the legality of the proposal.

Leaders of statewide educator groups, however, said Perdue's plan would shortchange teachers and students.

"Balancing the budget on the backs of Georgia's 128,000 teacher families and on our more than 1.6 million students is not the way to go. More effort should have been made to find other sources of either budget cuts or enhanced revenues," Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, said in a prepared statement.

The furloughs will hamper the education process for many years to come, Callahan said.

"We believe teacher furloughs will inexorably damage teaching and learning," he said. "The future professionals, technical staff and workforce of Georgia is in our classrooms. After years of consistently shortchanging the schools financially, our leaders add to the downgrading of our schools by this action."

Jeff Hubbard, president of the 42,000-member Georgia Association of Educators, also decried the plan.

Teachers are "concerned that the loss of those planning days, or any days, will negatively impact their ability to provide quality instruction to their students, which is their priority," he said.

The association wants the governor to consider possible revenue generating alternatives such as reexamining the state's tax incentive and tax-free programs, Hubbard said.

"At a critical time when our state's coffers are not where we need them to be, it would be negligent to not look at methods to bring in much needed tax monies such as temporarily suspending the upcoming sales tax holiday," Hubbard said.

In addition, the state's corporate tax structure should be scrutinized to ensure companies are paying their fair share. The feasibility of tax incentive giveaways such as those provided to motion-picture companies also should be reexamined, Hubbard said.

Meanwhile, teachers may wind up going deeper into their own wallets as a result of the budget crunch, he said.

"As is their nature, educators will continue to come out of their pockets an average of $550-$600 a year to provide for their classrooms and students," Hubbard said.

Times-Union writer Walter Jones contributed to this report.

teresa.stepzinski@jacksonville.com,

(912) 264-0405

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